Smart Cookie
by dS-Tiff
Summary: The day before the team go to Ireland to visit Walter's family... well, not quite the whole team... Cabe wants to check on Toby, but he can't resist a cookie, or two, or three... even if it does lead to an emotional chat with the doc.


**_This takes place during Season 3 between 'We're Gonna Need A Bigger Vote' and 'Sly and the Family Stone'. I hope you enjoy it, all comments welcome. :)_**

 **SMART COOKIE**

"Hey, Doc."

Toby Curtis looked up from his computer screen at the gravelly sound of Cabe Gallo's voice. "Cabe, you smelled the cookies, didn't you," grinned Toby nodding towards the open box which was on his desk next to his computer. "Double choc and nut and those there are cherry. Got 'em from Kavalski's. Try one."

Cabe approached Toby's desk with a mug of hot coffee in his hand. He peered into the box and helped himself to a cookie. "Thanks," he said and shoved the whole thing into his mouth. "Sorry you and Happy can't come with us to Ireland tomorrow," he continued with his mouth full.

"Me too," agreed Toby. "They say the Guinness over there is better than anything," he grinned. "But Happy has to complete her treatment and I've gotta stay here and take care of her."

Cabe nodded. "But, er…" he began, pausing briefly to look over his shoulder to make sure no one else was in earshot before continuing. "Who's taking care of you?"

"Huh?" Toby sat up straight as Cabe's voice became serious. "Me? I'm fine. I wasn't the one to get cadmium poisoning."

"No, I know that," agreed Cabe, putting his coffee cup down on the edge of Toby's desk. "But what I mean is… what I'm trying to say is…"

"Spit it out," urged Toby. "You've got a plane to catch tomorrow."

"It's just that…" Cabe sighed. "When Rebecca and I lost Amanda…"

"Cabe," Toby interrupted him, his voice full of compassion. "What's happened to Happy and me, it's nothing like what you and Rebecca went through."

"Maybe not exactly," admitted Cabe. "But I just remember that people… our friends and family… everyone was very kind, but sometimes it felt like they forgot Amanda had two parents. To lose your daughter, well, that's the worst thing that can happen to a mother, but… and don't get me wrong, Rebecca needed all the help and support she could get and I did the best I could for her, but… well, I just remember feeling a little side-lined. I guess maybe that's how it is for fathers."

Toby nodded sympathetically. "I must not have been easy for you," he offered. "But I'm not a father, not yet. I will be one day though and I can't imagine having to deal with what you did."

"Let's just say I dealt with it…badly," Cabe admitted, sadly. "After those first few weeks, when the grief wasn't quite so raw… once everyone had stopped visiting us every day, bringing flowers and groceries and pies, lots of pies… that's when I realised I didn't know what to do, so I just made excuses and left. I abandoned my wife when she needed me the most."

"And you feel that maybe if you'd had more support in the beginning you might have been able to hold your marriage together?" suggested Toby.

Cabe shrugged. "I don't know, Doc," he said, quietly. "I guess it's easy to say that now, with hindsight," he continued. "But the guys I hung around with back then, well, let's just say we didn't do a lot of talking about our... y'know... feelings."

"You said feelings as if it was a dirty word," Toby said, gesturing at Cabe in an accusatory manner.

"I was in the Marines," Cabe reminded him. "I guess it kinda was. Maybe it's different now?"

"I doubt it, but it should be," Toby said, pointedly. "Knock some of that testosterone on the head with some good old-fashioned therapy."

"Hmmm," pondered Cabe, reaching across the desk for another cookie. "I'll take a rain check, if you don't mind. Look, you can be a real jerk sometimes, but I just wanted to make sure you were holding up OK." He shoved the cookie into his mouth and washed it down with a swig of his coffee, which was now decidedly lukewarm.

Toby smiled warmly. "Well you can be a real dinosaur sometimes," he said. "But thanks for thinking of me, Cabe. I'm fine though. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm disappointed… no, I'm devastated that Happy's not really pregnant, but the timing was all wrong. We all know that. If anything it's brought us closer together. She's finally wearing my ring and I couldn't be happier."

Cabe glanced over Toby's shoulder at Happy who was getting her next dose of medication set up. "You've done OK for yourself, Doc," he said with a smile.

"Sure have," agreed Toby. "And I do appreciate you thinking about me, but things are good for Quintis right now."

"Gotta keep you geniuses in tip-top condition," replied Cabe with a knowing wink.

"And when I am a dad," continued Toby. "When Happy and I have three or four kids…"

"Three or four?" exclaimed Cabe. "Does Happy know about this?"

"She will," replied Toby with a huge smile, but his face soon became serious again. "But what I'm saying is I don't really know how to be a good dad so I might need some advice."

"I'd be happy to help," replied Cabe, earnestly. "OK, enough of this, I'd better go pack ready for tomorrow. What do people wear in Ireland anyway?" he asked with a puzzled frown and he grabbed another cookie before turning to leave.

"Cabe," Toby called after him and he spun back round. "I know it's been twenty years, but it's never too late if you want to talk to someone. It'll do you good."

Cabe shook his head and wiped the cookie crumbs from around his mouth. "I think that ship has sailed," he replied. "I dealt with it a long time ago."

"No you didn't," replied Toby, knowingly. "You just pushed your feelings so far down that you figured you wouldn't ever have to face them."

Cabe shrugged. "If you say so, Doc. You're the shrink."

"I am," agreed Toby. "Harvard trained. Which makes me…" he paused to take one of the cookies from the box and raised it in the air, grinning triumphantly. "A real smart cookie! See what I did there?"

Cabe groaned. "You'd think a genius could come up with a decent pun once in a while," he said, rolling his eyes.

"You just wish you'd thought of it first," Toby replied, smugly.

Cabe sneered and snatched the cookie from Toby, cramming the entire thing into his mouth at once. "Did they teach you that in the Marines?" asked Toby, mockingly.

"Yeah, they did," nodded Cabe. "That and how to silence a guy with my little finger," he added, waving the smallest digit of his left hand right under Toby's nose in a threatening manner.

Toby screeched and recoiled in his chair and Cabe let out a deep chuckle.

"Good thing I can tell you're only kidding," said Toby.

"I was…this time," winked Cabe and he picked up one more cookie. "These are good," he nodded approvingly.

"Sure are," agreed Toby. "Hey, maybe when you get back from Ireland I'll pick up another double dozen and we can have that talk?" he suggested.

Cabe sighed deeply as he thought about Toby's earlier analysis. Of course he was right, Cabe realised. Toby was a genius, he was always right. Cabe knew he'd deliberately avoided facing up to the death of his daughter. Maybe now was as good a time as any to do something about it? "You never know, I might just take you up on that, Doc," he said and then he walked away.

"What was that all about?" asked Happy, sidling up to her husband-to-be as Cabe headed towards the door.

"Oh, just some male bonding," replied Toby, dismissively.

"You and Cabe?" said Happy in disbelief.

"Yes," confirmed Toby. "And why is that so hard to believe? Cabe and I have a lot in common."

"Hmmm," replied Happy, sounding entirely unconvinced.

"Cookie?" Toby offered, holding up the box.

Happy turned her nose up in disgust. "I'll pass," she replied.

"Nausea?" asked Toby, sympathetically and Happy nodded.

"I've had enough of this now," she snarled.

"It won't last much longer," Toby promised as he got to his feet.

"Good," she snapped, wheeling her medication towards his desk. "So come on, while you're hooking me up to this thing you can tell me what you and Cabe were talking about."

"I told you, just guy stuff," replied Toby as he started preparing the intravenous line.

"Sure," sneered Happy. "Oh, and remind me to talk to Paige about shoes and purses later," she added, dryly.

Toby rolled his eyes. "If you must know he was just being… fatherly," he explained. "Now, hold still."

Happy pondered his response and watched as he set up her dose of medication. "Don't, er, don't tell him I said this, but…" she began. Toby stopped what he was doing to listen to her and her voice dropped to barely a whisper. "But I kinda like it when he does that."

"Me too," agreed Toby with a nod. He really hoped Cabe would allow him to help one day so the former Marine could finally come to terms with loss of his daughter. "Me too."

THE END


End file.
